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Topic: Final Thoughts about Amazing Race 23 (Read 2410 times)

Hi Guys, just wanna share ideas and thoughts about this season of the amazing race,i would classify this season as "acceptable-good" season and is better than the previous one.-i don't know if i'm one of the minorities here but i kinda like the first leg ( Chile 1 ) it was time-consuming, tricky, challenging and entertaining. -i loved the second leg even more, Rowan and Shane sucking at the bus station, Shoeshine roadblock drama at night, Mid-leg travel ( see, i'm officially the minority here ) -leg 3 was quite nice, but it's not one of the best legs that has ever happened in the amazing race -i was quite disappointed with this one placed as KOR leg, i wanted a KOR in which the following leg is still in the same country such as CHINA in season 14, i also thought season 17 had better norway leg than this one, but it's still enjoyable though-i remember loving Poland when i watched season 11, and my love for Poland keeps burning during this episode, The U-turn fit really well in this stage of the race, i only wished it was at night, like the previous Poland leg in all stars-when seeing the detour in leg 6, i thought this was gonna be one of the worst leg ever, such a shame that the fast forward didn't work out because of the unfortunate weather, but the roadblock really saved this leg. it was funny enjoyable and torturous for people like Danny. and we also saw a pitstop fight like the Guilin leg in CHINA (season 14), but i really regret that the hate between them didn't develop, it would make one of the most memorable fights.- i liked the U.A.E legs in season 15 and i don't really like it this time, perhaps i expected too much. i can't point out directly what's lacking in this leg but it's very missing for this leg, the dating detour could've been made harder i guess- i thought i couldn't be more disappointed with UAE but leg 8 proved me wrong, i really hate the both detours, very pointless and time-wasting to watch. the roadblock was kinda OK i guess. i didn't like that the second U-turn was placed in this leg. it would be better if it was placed in Bandung I or Bandung II if it was an elimination leg, it's probably because Indonesia has had a u-turn in season 21.- yay for amazing race going to not only my country, but also my city . but i will comment this as objective as i could. i loved the elephant detour, it was tricky to carry a long, heavy sugar cane in a quite distant places. (i know the location of both the market and the zoo) especially with the busy traffic. but i shit-faced seeing the bird detour, i didn't really see what you had to do, you just had to encourage a bird to sing using nothing but patience. The roadblock was OK, it's not that difficult considering i'm musical, but i see some very-not-musical people like Nicole struggling really hard at the RB. i actually expected a harder roadblock like arranging the correct angklung given a row of notes from a traditional sundanese song- leg 10 should be the one with the elimination rather than leg 9. it's more complex and harder tasks. the roadblock was acceptable after seeing how tricky it actually was, but the detour really rocked. The afghanimals got really busted in the detour. The king-cobra was not one of the greatest eating challenges we had, Caviars, Argentine Feasts, Beijing street delicacy are better than this task.- leg 11 had the greatest Japan leg just after season 12. although one detour is easier than the other (the fishbowl). i just wished the message was longer. The roadblock was the star of this leg, reminded me of the dinosaur-making challenge in season 18. however, there may be some room for improvement for this leg. i thought that it would be better if you had to search one of the four cats among 1000 cats in the temple for the one that had your clue- leg 12 was very linear and disappointing immediately after watching the Japan leg. it's like you had a very amazing appetizer and a crappy main-course. The memory challenge was apparently not 100% memory challenge after all. they're just puzzles. season 12 and 21 had the greatest and 100% memory challenge.

overall this season has a great route, great cast, more unique challenges. and more dramas than 2 previous seasons

I seriously hated the season from Episode 1, but Episode 2's ending onwards was pretty good.

I would classify it as somewhere between the best seasons post UB. It's better than 21, and it's better than 19, but it's not quite as good as 20 or 22. But it was still a good season overall with some teams that are one of my favorite teams to ever run the Race (Bunnies <3, Reebs <3)

Logged

"I already told youTrust and respect is what we do this forI never intended to be next"

I LOVED this season (though I HATED the ending) The tasks were, in my opinion, some of the best ever, and the locations, despite looking only decent on paper, were fabulous.I liked Iquique Leg 1, and Leg 2 was just great (I just wish we saw the zipline task)Portugal was nice, but was the blandest episode, except for poor Chester & EphraimI liked Norway, and it was an exciting leg. The Detour was OK, and the Roadblock was thrilling.Leg 5 had the Double U-Turn, and the Detour challenges were difficult, yet balanced. The Roadblock was cool, but doughnuts with filling? I wish that there could have been a 8 addresses, with ONE DOUGHNUT per house. That way, it would be more of "who got the doughnut" than "which house had the doughnut"I liked how teams traveled by train to Vienna. The Detour was unbalanced, but still good. It would have been nice to have a Double U-Turn this leg. The Roadblock wasn't fair, as singing has nothing to do with racing. Luckily, it only delayed the Oklahoma team. Probably my favorite task of this leg was the MAZE. I really like maze/labyrinth tasks.Leg 7 had good challenges, but was kinda dull.Leg 8 was spectacular! The Dune Buggy & Wadi Adventure tasks (RB + SB) were cool, and the Detour showed of a more "fun" side of Arab Culture, as opposed to the Abu Dhabi Detour.Leg 9 was shockingly an elimination leg, and the challenges were, for the most part, great. The bird detour was horribly easy, though the terrific Angklung Roadblock made up for it.I LOVED Legs 10 and 11. They were just over-the-top-awesome, especially Japan. The Detour/RB in both legs were great and exceeded my expectations. The RI were also good, too. CAT TEMPLES! <3 <3 <3 <3 The final leg was too linear, and it didn't give the money task a chance to shine.

Logged

"To deny people their human rights is to challenge their very humanity" - Nelson Mandela

"We don't read and write poetry because it's cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion. " - Robin Williams, Dead Poets Society

I liked the season. For me it was one of the better (maybe best) post-UB season.

The tasks were pretty good and the Norway leg was amazing. The teams were all entertaining (mainly the F4)

The 1 thing I absolutely hated was the TBC in Norway when all the teams got equalised and slept on the boat. If I planed it it would have been a "moving/mobile pit stop" (when the teams travel during the rest period to their next destination)

This season is just as great as any other season (because I'm extremely addicted to TAR).Leg1: It was... dull? (not sure with the term) Half of the teams did nothing during the 1st leg, and 4 teams were way behind the other 7 teams.Leg2: The detour was balanced but it was not very exciting. There was a batch 1 & 2 before the rb, and I think I'm okay with it.Leg3: The European legs were all amazing! Starting from Portugal. The detour was balanced and amazing at the same time. The roadblock was easy but okay. The pit stop looked awsome! The flight drama was also amazing. NFL team lost due to horrible lucks at the airports, and that had them become the 1st team ever eliminated in an airport. Leg4: 2nd leg of Europe and still amazing! The night leg is just one of a kind! Maybe the detour was imbalanced, but the Arctic plunged was good. There was an ARI this leg, and the coins from that ARI was used on a future leg, and it was awesome!Leg5: 3rd leg of Europe, and it gets better! Both sides of the detour were balanced. The w-turn here is just perfect for this leg. The rb was completely random, but it was awesome! And at the end of the leg, the pit stop was amazing!Leg6: There were many recycled locations here. I already forgot TAR4's but thanks to Wikipedia, I was able to look at the locations and tasks. The singing rb was fun to watch but... if I were to do it, not fun! The detour was completely imbalanced. The ff was a bummer. The pit stop was a recycled location, but it's nice anyway.Leg7: The detour looked balanced. A w-turn could look perfect here. The rb looked fun but confusing. The leg is actually great.Leg8: A detour in the desert was awesome! The w-turn here was also perfect. The speedbump is good-great for me. The rb looked fun yet challenging. In the end, the pit stop was amazing!Leg9: The ram thingy might be boring to watch on screen, but it showed culture, and it would probably be more fun to watch on the spot. The train drama was great! I loved seeing the 2 teams on the 2nd train catch up to the 1st 3 teams. The detour looked imbalanced. The bird detour looked okay, but I think it would be boring. The anklung rb was amazing! I'd love to see it as a switchback, but I think a lot of people are already gonna because of Indonesia overdose. The rb was challenging and fun to watch. The kids there were so cute that I loved watching the rb all over again.Leg10: The cobra thing added Marie drama to the episode. After 9 legs, finally, the rb came before the detour. The rb was great! The detour looked okay-good to me. This should've been the 9th leg instead. Then the previous leg should've been leg 10 with the Philimination.Leg11: Japan leg! The detour was imbalanced, but at least teams get to decide whether they wanna have fun or wanna get things done quickly. The speedbump was great, but it was probably more time consuming than the other speedbumps. The rb was awesome! The tasked looked both mental and physical at the same time. This type of rb will be perfect for any penultimate leg! Loved seeing the Exes come from the bottom and catch up to 1st place. The vending machine was good. The pit stop location was recycled from TAR15; but nevertheless, it looked great! The pit stop greeter sure showed some modern culture. I just love watching Japanese legs! Leg12: The rb determined the final order of teams checking in at the finish line, but it wasn't as bad as the luck rb last season. The ice thing was good. The trick at the end of the ice task was great! The memory challenge was completely unexpected, and I have to say, it was great! The finish line location should be good.

Can't wait to watch TAR24! I always look forward to the next TAR, despite the vomit-worthy cast from the spoilers.

I liked how teams traveled by train to Vienna. The Detour was unbalanced, but still good. It would have been nice to have a Double U-Turn this leg. The Roadblock wasn't fair, as singing has nothing to do with racing. Luckily, it only delayed the Oklahoma team. Probably my favorite task of this leg was the MAZE. I really like maze/labyrinth tasks.

How do you know the Detour was unbalanced when all teams did the same detour and we even don't know how hard the other one was. And the Roadblock, not only Oklahoma but also Iced Blonde Girls got struggling.

And I love Singing task. You said about fair but Dancing, Eating... is also not fair for some racers, too.

For me, this is definitely the best season post-UB! The cast was decent, and I had teams to root for and teams to root against, which is always good! There was a wide variety of locations which for the most part were all very scenic, so that's good. While most challenges were linear, some of them proved great entertainment and posed much difficulty, my favourites being the shoeshine in Chile, the fish Detour in Norway and the Roadblocks in both Indonesia (anklung) and Japan. The editing remains horrid but overall it's been a really nice season to watch at home!

The best thing about this season was the cast. It's got to be the best cast that CBS has ever put together. (Yes, I said Ever! )I loved 10 out of the 11 teams, which never happens, as I usually only like 6 or maybe 7 teams. Unfortunately though, the only team I didn't like was Amy & Jason!

The route was great, but I would have liked to have seen more diversity in the scenery. There seemed to be a lot of Sand and Desert, and not enough cold E.g. Snow in Switzerland, or even a random rainy leg.

I really enjoyed some of the tasks, but the majority of them were just Blaaaah. I think someone mentioned it on another thread, but my biggest problem with the tasks was the Doughnut Roadblock in Leg 5. I really think each team should have had 8 or 9 DIFFERENT addresses to visit spread across the complex, and that way teams wouldn't have been able to wok together and it would have been a much better "Needle in a Haystack" challenge, allowing teams further behind a chance to catch up.

Again, wasn't pleased with the winners, and the so called Memory task was one of the weakest I've seen in a long time.

Great Season at the beginning, but slowly got poorer as the season went on, mainly due to the elimination of the more unique teams, and leaving us with the less diverse of the teams.

Hoskote and Naina looked promising, but they were awfully weak. Rowan and Shane looked promising, but they were also awfully weak.Chester and Ephraim failed to make an impactBrandon and Adam were annoyingTim and Danny were horribly boringNicky and Kim were also horribly boringAlly and Ashley were okay, but they were also awfully weakLeo and Jamal are polarizing: love them or hate them. And that's actually good, but I hate them

Only the final three I truly rooted and loved during the course of the season.Jason and Amy were somewhat meh but they had this fun vibes with Nicole and Travis Nicole and Travis were amazingly competitive and strong in the first half of the race, but their edit went downhill as Nicole proved that she was a trainwreck in challenges and Travis was a d*ck (as Marie tweeted) to his husband. BUT THEY WERE LOVELY AND THEIR ENDING WAS LULZYTim and Marie are the real stars of the season. I don't need to expound on this. They complement each other well.

TAR23 began in the minority for me... and still stayed in the bottom 2 runs (with TAR21) in post-Unfinished Business.

Overall, the casting felt very generic and flat. It only told one side of a story other than sub-plots and minor information from teams and individual racers. Nobody really brought themselves to life like what Brook & Claire, Nathan & Jennifer, or even Susan & Patrick did. Travis & Nicole's editing was a little awkward focusing on their teamwork then transitioning into frustration near the end of the season. I didn't get it, but that's what will be pinpointed next.

The editing is a key issue to this season being in my current least favorites. The music didn't make me want to root or cheer for any of the teams. It felt like I was watching a travel blog video parodying TAR. Even though teams received decently leveled edits, there wasn't much storyline like what TAR12 brought. What makes TAR incredible is the hardships and MORE in-depth team communication that is offered to the viewers. Marie dully saying, "Look at that... an entire family is on that one motorbike..." to Tim is basically what described most of this season.

Tasks... thank goodness for zero Switchbacks! However, I'd say 80% of the tasks shown throughout this season were straightforward and not really unique. Also, PLEASE VISIT NEW COUNTRIES, DON'T JUST VISIT NEW CITIES AND CALL IT A RACE.

I am quite pleased with this season overall! One thing I like is that we don't see the same team winning every leg! And also I love how the teams interact with each other, from the EP when everybody hated Marie, till the Tokyo leg when the 3 teams sort of worked together to get Afghanimals out. I would love to see Marie race again, one of the strongest woman that has raced! And also, I hope that teams like Nicky & Kim and Tim & Danny do get another chance to come back as well!

I actually liked the cast this season, because although half of the time they were boring, I feel the power balance is good, not one team obviously dominating the season.As for the first Bandung leg, I loved the roadblock, but found the other tasks/route info pointless. Why go out of the way just to watch rams butt heads? & although the racers loved it, feeding elephants was also meh. There are so many interesting things to do in Bandung.

To me the final leg roadblock also seemed like a switchback to that ridiculous final leg baseball task from the previous seasons finale. Without having one partner catch the dropped object it may have been easier but I felt this time round it was a better fit contextually.(Other switchbacks: relay a phone message (s19) Japanese game show, Christina's ice wall climb hell (s12))

To me this season was a wreck, if the next season wasn't all stars I think I would be done with this show which is a shame because it's something I really used to love but I guess everything dies baby (that's a fact).Probably my biggest problem was all of my favourite teams getting the boot: Brandon & Adam (I don't get why there seems to be a general dislike towards them), Nicky and Kim, Ally & Ashley ( even if I only got on board after the Bunnies were gone), Leo & Jamal.I think the season was also dulled by Nicole & Travis overstaying their welcome, really if you can't do the tasks by yourself you don't deserve to be in the race. As a viewer I feel robbed that I didn't get to witness the underdog victory of the ice girls in Indonesia or the accompanying shock elimination of the supposed "power parents", that would have made for great watching, well I imagine (so would have Leo and Jamal winning the penultimate leg but that was also their own fault ><)

I also didn't like the use of the uturn as a punishment (Abu Dhabi) get off your high horse! Especially irking was the hypocrisy of Travis and Nicole later on but at the time I was also upset that Nicky and Kim were being punished in leg 9 for something that they did in leg 3 and I don't agree that they had just been hanging on each leg, they did well in Portugal, Poland and Austria...

I also wasn't a fan of the japan leg, it really wasn't up to my expectations for what is in my opinion the most important leg of the race and I'm so sick of Japanese game show tasks, they make me cringe and they've been done, please stop! The only good task from that leg was the roadblock which was then followed by two recycled locations. Compare this leg with Northern Ireland from last season and there is no competition for which one is better. Oh and the find the wandering vending machine task was also awful

I tried to be optimistic going into the finale but even the season recap felt bad. Some people complain about the soundtrack having changed so they can't get excited about watching the race. I've never understood this until I heard Phil's opening narration, it did nothing for me, I wasn't enthused at all. I think the greatest season recap was in season 13 (it's kind of random that I even know that but whatever)

I'm really indifferent to Jason and Amy winning, I really didn't mind her but he seemed really insensitive in Abu Dhabi and Indonesia (Indian? Chinese?), how can anyone travel so far and remain so ignorant? And they had only won one leg previously... I'm kind of not convinced that they won, they seem so bland, I don't think I'll remember them at all. I would have preferred Tim and Marie winning, but what can you do

There were some things I liked from this season (believe it or not)

visiting countries that we've only seen once or twice (Portugal, Poland, Norway, UAE) to me they definitely need to do that more. I don't get why some people are so obsessed with new countries, we have plenty of old underused ones. I'm even happy with new regions in old countries

exes: apparently the first since season 11 or season 2 or something, I love seeing new team dynamics rather than just dating or sports team mates

the final memory task was good in theory but ultimately too easy, I wish teams would stop studying for these so that they can be about the tasks again rather than trivia

So yeah, sorry to be a downer but I think this is the first season where I've really been dissatisfied afterwards, maybe this is growing up ><